


Heartwritten

by silberblitzchen



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - Historical, Letters, M/M, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Weimar Germany
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23577685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silberblitzchen/pseuds/silberblitzchen
Summary: 1922. In a compartment of a Train from Trento to Munich, two strangers meet for the first time.Jongdae, a young musician, plucks up and writes a letter to the handsome stranger after they part ways.Their correspondence, originally written in German, tells a story of two very lonely men finding stability in each other.
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Junmyeon | Suho
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Munich, 29th April 1922

**Author's Note:**

> Herr is the german version of "sir". You might occasionally stumble over it.  
> This has been inspired by Mirok Li's "The Yalu flows" and Rainer Maria Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet"
> 
> For E, as usual.

My dear Sir,

this letter must sure take you by surprise and I apologise if this makes you uncomfortable. That is, receiving a letter from a stranger you only for the shortest time shared a train compartment with.

Our brief conversation would not leave my thoughts and so I decided to write to you in a moment of quiet. It was so extraordinary yet so very mundane and it took me over a week to realise that you must be a fellow countryman.

You have grown up in the east, and by your last name I assumed you to be Korean. Excuse me if my assumption is bold and wrong, I am very sure of myself – at least in that regard.

During our conversation you mentioned that you teach at a university. That is very admirable. As my letter is already terribly rude, I will continue with the assumptions: By the books you carried (I noticed Dumas and Hesse, Schiller if I recall correctly) you are in literature?

I remain in hopes of a new friend(ship).

Yours faithfully,

Mattheo Kim

P.S. I have to confess to another rudeness. I got your address from inside one of your books while you were sleeping. Once again, I apologise.  
You may just ignore my letter.


	2. Brandenburg, 7 May 1922

My Dear Herr,

Never before have I received such a curious, but frankly heart-warming letter. I remember the journey from Trento well. You quietly spoke in your dreams and I did not want to disturb your peaceful slumber. You seemed like you dearly needed it.   
Your “rudeness” is excused whole-heartedly.

You indeed guessed right that I am from Korea too. This startled me truly and I must confess that I almost spilled my morning coffee onto the now very precious letter you sent.

I grew up in the capital city, on the southern side of the river and ended up in Germany after a lucky coincidence that brought a professor from Munich to the University I studied at. He offered me to come with him. That was shortly before the revolt of the Seoulitan Students. I must confess I was safely tucked in on a cruiser while many of my friends were put into jail by Japanese soldiers.   
How did you, younger friend (excuse the assumption, you looked not a day older than 22), find yourself in Europe?

Now, to your other assumption: Literature is a hobby of mine, to hone my german and French. A I confess to writing the occasional poem.

But I teach engineering and history of eastern and western architecture at the TH Berlin. But I must give you this: you have a very keen eye, Herr Mattheo.

Now it is my turn to be terribly rude and make an assumption: You often hummed to yourself on that long train ride when you thought I was asleep behind my book. Are you perhaps a musician?

It has been a pleasure, receiving your letter and it was a welcome change in my routine.

Yours faithfully,

Johann Kim

P.S. A fool I would be for ignoring such a letter.


	3. Memmingen, Allgäu, 16 May 1922

My dearest Herr Johann,

I was pleasantly surprised myself to receive such a quick answer to my letter, after sitting in anxious thought for days.

I grew up in the town of Siheung, not too far from the Capital. I often travelled there to run errands for my dear mother. But that we should meet so far away from home for the first time is surely a matter of fate. If you believe in such things of course.

After the protests my mother shooed me out of town, scared that they would go after all the students, and I fled towards the north, across the river, where I met a now very close friend. It took a while across China, and then months on the sea until I arrived in Europe. Your travel was much more comfortable than my very rushed departure from my family I dearly miss now.

If it’s not too personal, may I ask your birthname? Mine is Jongdae. I go by Mattheo because I noticed the bureaucracy is done faster, and now it has become a habit to sign my letters with a name that has only very recently become my own. I miss the sound of someone correctly pronouncing my birthname, even though the people certainly try. And your guess is almost right. I am 23 years of age.

Literature is a wonderful way to learn the language and I can tell from your letter and our meeting in the train that you must have studied in school while still in Korea. But that you would be an engineer I could not have told. I always imagined engineers to be very theoretical and strict people, but your demeanour and overall attitude gave you more the air of a studied literature lover. I too write the occasional verse, even though as song, not as poem. I have been trying to sell them, but it has been, so far, unfruitful. I can spare a few, I you are interested in reading them.

Your guess was right: I am musician, I learned traditional instruments and cello and am now travelling through the southern parts of Germany in hopes of finding a permanent position, but so far, I am playing at smaller events and weddings. For the opera I am sadly not trained, as my voice is more used to classical Korean pieces.

It feels good to write to a person with similar experiences. It makes one less lonely.

Yours faithfully,

Kim Jongdae.

P.S. Not a fool, never. That letter was very bold of me.


End file.
